Archive for the ‘Pete Robinson’ tag

What car show has a category for “Student Beaters?” It’s the Georgia Tech Car Show, coming to the Atlanta campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology on March 31. The show is open to “motor vehicles of all types owned by students, former students, faculty, staff, alumni, fans, and corporate sponsors of Georgia Tech.” This show has a place for everything — classics, alternative-fuel cars, 4×4 trucks, kit cars, race cars, motorcycles, and more. Judging is by popular ballot, and, get this: ballots are for sale for $1 apiece, with the proceeds benefiting the Georgia Tech foundation. Obviously, it’s all in fun.

Admission is free. In case of rain, the show will move to a covered parking garage.

The show is organized by a group of enthusiasts who wanted to highlight Georgia Tech’s many contributions to the automobile industry. The institute’s faculty and alumni include “Sneaky” Pete Robinson, who won the 1961 NHRA Nationals; Jim Downing, endurance racer and co-developer of the HANS device; Franci Cimatti, in charge of new road car platform design at Ferrari; Huibert Mees, a chassis expert with Ford Motor Co.; Norman Garrett, who helped develop the Mazda Miata; and Bryan Nesbitt, the head of car design for GM’s European divisions.

About that Student Beater category: “Cars in this class will score higher with dents, rust, worn interiors, unpopular body styles, political opinions or music taste expressed in the form of worn bumper stickers or graphics…. If you suspect that your car may be worth less than your parking pass, then this might be the special category for you.” If the University of Massachusetts had had a contest like this while I was there, I would have retired the trophy.